Guest post by Charlotte from Home Safety Hub.org. Thank you for these safety tips.
4 Tips to Keep Your Children Safe This Halloween
Photo by Antranius via Pixabay
When many people think about Halloween safety for children, they think about horrible things that bad people can do. Not a year goes by when we don’t hear tales of razor blades in candy or apples, poison, or other tampering. This year, in case you haven’t seen the news reports from around the country, there seems to be a rash of creepy clown sightings leading up to the holiday (some of which have actually posed legitimate threats), so parents and grandparents should definitely be paying special attention to the safety of their kids as they set out to trick-or-treat.
The obvious tip is to simply accompany them on their quest for candy and keep an eye on them as they go door-to-door. In actuality, it’s more likely that some type of accident will spoil your halloween than people with ill intent, so our four safety tips start there.
1. Make Sure Your Kids Are Visible
Depending on where you live, there’s a good chance your kids will be trick-or-treating in the dark. Typically, the event begins when there’s still daylight, but this time of year, the sun is starting to go down earlier. Beware of the dark and the dangers that come with it.
The biggest danger is traffic. While drivers should be on high alert during trick-or-treat time, they may not always see kids in darkly colored costumes, especially if they’re distracted or have come from a party where alcohol was served. Make sure your kids are wearing bright colors or have something that glows or reflects on them. This could be as simple as carrying glow sticks along with their trick-or-treat bag.
2. Make Sure the World is Visible to Them!
Just as others may have a hard time seeing your children in the dark, your children may have problems seeing as well if you don’t take precautions. Make sure their vision isn’t impaired by a mask. It’s also not a bad idea to have them carry a flashlight in case they have trouble seeing where they’re walking. They may be walking through yards and on walkways that have steps or other obstacles they could trip over. You’ll also want to make sure their costume doesn’t have pieces that can be tripped over.
3. Make Sure They Understand Not to Go Into People’s Homes
You would advise your kids not to go into strangers’ homes any other time of the year, but the very event of trick-or-treating seems to directly contradict the old “don’t take candy from strangers” adage, and could send your child mixed messages. Some people believe it’s best to simply limit trick-or-treating to people you actually know, and that’s certainly the safest bet. In reality, many kids are going to be going all over the neighborhood trying to get their bags filled up. Chances are, you don’t know every person in every house. As I said earlier, it’s best to accompany them and keep an eye on them, but you should still make sure they understand that they should not go into anyone’s home without your permission.
4. Make Sure Treats are Safe
Speaking of that whole “taking candy from strangers thing,” no Halloween safety list would be complete without the reminder that you must make sure the treats your children received are safe. They’ll be eager to dig in, but you need to take a few minutes to inspect candy wrappers to make sure they haven’t been tampered with. If you were given unpackaged treats, just put them right in the trash (assuming they didn’t come from someone you know personally). Your kids might take issue with this, but just explain to them why you’re doing it and that you have their best interest in mind. Besides, most kids are much more interested in candy bars than baked goods.
Those stories we hear each year about candy tampering are usually exposed as hoaxes. This stuff really doesn’t happen as often as one might assume. However, it only takes one bad experience to cause a serious problem. Choose safety!
Have a happy and safe Halloween!
